Alioune Ba

Hands and feet are central to the work by Bâ (b. Mali, 1959). He is of the opinion that body parts are distinctive for the life of each individual: for instance, they say something about the work that he or she does. There is a great difference between the feet of a gardener and those of a rich merchant.

Bâ photographs details of everyday life in the Sahel: a close-up of a wrinkled old hand, the thumb and pointer of which hold prayer beads; a person sitting cross-legged, barefoot and with hands folded; a child’s hand grasping a bowl; a close-up of a baby’s hand; the soles of feet, painted with henna. With his work Bâ wants to give a positive picture of Africa, because television and newspapers in general only show the misery.

Bâ works for the Musée National du Mali, where he is responsible for recording the collection photographically. In addition he often goes out on missions to small villages in order to record the last vestiges of the culture of Mali for future generations.

Bâ is a photojounalist, trained in the Musée National in Mali. Since 1982 he has produced various reportages.

Here is a small sampling of his work

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